Drop in passengers at Austrian airports

Austrian airports saw a 1% drop in visitors last year when compared to 2012, with smaller airports in particular struggling to keep up passenger numbers.

Linz Blue Danube Airport showed the weakest figures, seeing the second significant drop in two years, with passenger numbers falling by 11.8%. Between 2011 and 2012, they had dropped off by 8.2%.

Innsbruck Airport was the only one to see an increase in travellers, with numbers rising by 5.4% on 2012 figures. Along with Innsbruck, Salzburg airport is also thought to have benefited from tourism as passengers numbers there remained stable, although they didn’t increase.

The overall fall in numbers is thought to be due in part to regional airports putting unprofitable routes on hold or cancelling them. Airlines have also struggled following the introduction of a ticket tax in 2011 in Austria and Germany.

A rise in passenger numbers between 1% of 3% has been predicted for this year by the Vienna Airport Executive Board, although it’s thought that the regional airports are less likely to experience this increase.